by Dr Rahim Said
Once upon a pre-digital time, the ringing of a public phone booth could mean anything — a lover calling from a train station, a student phoning home with exam results, or a salesman calling in orders from Chow Kit market.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and those once-ubiquitous booths now sit like neglected ghosts of communication past — rusting in back alleys, gathering cobwebs outside kedai runcit, or worse, being peed on by strays.
But in Japan, where nostalgia and innovation hold hands like old friends, these relics have found a new purpose.
Across several Japanese towns, abandoned phone booths have been transformed into miniature aquariums, complete with coral reefs, air bubblers, and schools of tropical fish swirling in a glass cocoon that once held a rotary dial and a phone book.
They’re whimsical, calming, tourist-friendly — and above all, proof that creativity can be sustainable.
Why can’t Malaysia take a leaf — or in this case, a fin — out of Japan’s book?
Let’s look around. Our cities are full of post-industrial eyesores begging for a second life. Here are a few clouds of inspiration floating above the rust and dust:
1. Retired Parking Meters = Miniature Libraries
Our defunct coin-only parking meters? Hollow them out, stack in a few books, and voila — you’ve got a Perpustakaan Poket. Readers drop a book, take a book. A small roof to keep the rain out, maybe even solar-powered lights at night. Suddenly, DBKL becomes Dewan Buku Kuala Lumpur.
2. Broken Payphones = Prayer Booths or Poem Boxes
Where telecommunication once ruled, now comes quiet reflection. Slot in a small seat, a prayer mat, or a collection of short poems from Malaysian writers. Add a speaker that reads verses aloud. Turn public detritus into public enlightenment.
3. Old Bus Stops = Green Stalls
You know the abandoned metal frames that used to shade commuters but now serve only rust and gecko droppings? Reinvent them as vertical gardens or hydroponic herb stalls run by local communities. Morning commuters pick up fresh ulam raja on their way to work. That’s sustainable and delicious.
4. Decommissioned Post Boxes = Urban Beehives
Yes, bees. Install proper interior boxes and allow native stingless bees to inhabit them. Not only do they pollinate city greenery, but the honey could be harvested by nearby urban farming collectives. Pos Malaysia might finally deliver something sweet again.
5. Retired LRT Coaches = Cafés, Classrooms or Co-working Pods
Park an old train carriage in Bukit Jalil or Sentul and retrofit it into a trendy café, a youth learning hub, or a mobile startup workspace. The Madani government keeps talking about “people-first” spaces — here’s a tangible way to create them.
6. Obsolete Traffic Lights = Urban Sculptures
No need to junk them. Mount them as public art installations with creative lighting sequences or convert them into interactive exhibits teaching kids about road safety and technology evolution. Throw in AR for the TikTok generation. Suddenly, even your grandmother’s old crosswalk becomes Instagrammable.
The Japanese aquarium phone booth is more than a novelty. It’s a gentle cultural statement: that we can reimagine rather than remove, refurbish rather than reject.
In Malaysia, we love our acronyms and grand plans, from Vision 2020 to the 13th Malaysia Plan. But maybe what we really need is a Recycle & Repurpose Renaissance — turning forgotten objects into charming, useful, even educational landmarks.
So next time you see an old payphone, don’t just see decay. Picture a betta fish swimming inside it, or a schoolkid pulling out a book from its dusty shell.
And ask yourself: what else could we do with the junk we leave behind?
After all, one nation’s trash could be another generation’s treasure — with just a little imagination and a touch of ikan tilapia.
(The views expressed here are entirely those of the writer)
WE